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Oil prices drop to 6-month low (Brent: $49.8)

Oil prices fell below $50 yesterday as the Chinese and U.S. manufacturing activity came out below expectations and July OPEC production (lead by Saudi Arabia and Iraq) seems at an all-time high. July production has been revised up to 32.01 mio. barrels per day from 31.87 mio. bpd in June.

Contributing to weighing on prices is the outlook for Iranian oil entering the market as sanctions are likely to be lifted later this year following last month's nuclear deal. Iranian Oil Minister Zanganeh states that the country will increase production by 500,000 barrels per day when sanctions are lifted and within a few months, production will reach 3-8-3.9 mio. barrels (current production is around 3 mio. bpd).

Not a lot of economic key numbers today, but tomorrow a row of U.S. data will be published, which could spur additional volatility.

Main potential oil price driver today could be tonight's weekly oil stocks data from the American Petroleum Institute; last week showed a larger-than-expected draw in crude inventories.